SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT
SUBMISSION
Crisis
Assistance Request Form - (Dept. of State)
OMB
Number 1405-XXXX
Why is this collection necessary and what are the legal statutes that allow this?
The information on this form is requested pursuant to Executive Order 12656 (Assignment of emergency preparedness responsibilities), the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq. (Immigration and Nationality Act), and U.S. Department of State authorities providing for consular and emergency assistance and visa functions, including 22 U.S.C. § 4802(b) (Overseas evacuations), 22 U.S.C. § 3904 (Functions of Service), 22 U.S.C. § 2671 (Emergency Expenditures), and 22 U.S.C. § 2656 (Management of Foreign Affairs).
What business purpose is the information gathered going to be used for?
The purpose of the collection is to enable the Department of State to better identify and communicate with U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) who may need consular assistance during a crisis overseas.
The form asks U.S. citizens and LPRs to share information with us about their current plans, the number of people in their group, and their exact location. It also asks for their latest contact information and that of an emergency contact outside of the country in crisis.
The Department is utilizing this form to acquire the most current and accurate data possible to inform our consular assistance efforts. It will allow us to build a more current picture of how many U.S. citizens and LPRs plan to remain in a country and any who may request reimbursable loan assistance to depart or other consular assistance.
Whether the U.S. government provides evacuation assistance depends on the nature of the crisis and other factors. The Department may work with the host government, other countries, and other U.S. government agencies to arrange chartered or non-commercial transportation based on information entered in this form.
Is this collection able to be completed electronically (e.g. through a website or application)?
The collection will be completed electronically. The respondent will access the form at the following link: https://cacms.state.gov/s/crisis-intake. The link will be accessible from the relevant country information page on www.travel.state.gov, from the U.S. embassy/consulate webpage, and embedded in other Department of State communications. The Department may also choose to distribute the form’s URL through emails from @state.gov email addresses or in messaging sent as consular information products (such as MASCOT messages).
Does this collection duplicate any other collection of information?
This collection will not duplicate any other collection of information. The form complements the existing Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) as a situation-specific tool that helps us to gather current information to best serve U.S. citizens and LPRs. The Department will activate the form only when needed.
Describe any impacts on small business.
There is no impact on small business.
What are consequences if this collection is not done?
The Department would be hindered in its contingency planning and in potential operational efforts to assist U.S. citizens and LPRs in a country undergoing a crisis if this collection is not done. The Department requires an online collection tool that can be readily used by individuals in need specifically in the crisis region – and those in the United States or elsewhere who may be acting on their behalf – to submit requests for consular assistance.
The online form helps avoid unstructured requests for assistance, such as those that arrive via e-mail messages, which may not include all necessary, actionable information and which often requires Department staff to enter information into other systems in order to facilitate responses. This form is integrated with other elements of the Department’s evolving information technology platform used in crisis-management situations, making it an important tool in the efficient handling of individual cases.
Are there any special collection circumstances?
A crisis can take place and intensify at any time. The form will only be activated and ultimately taken down from the webpage when the Department deems it necessary.
Document publication (or intent to publish) a request for public comments in the Federal Register
The Department intends to publish a Federal Register notice for this collection, seeking public comment for 30 days on the collection. The Department published a notice on October 13, 2022 (87 FR 62172) seeking comment, and received no comments.
Are payments or gifts given to the respondents?
No.
Describe assurances of privacy/confidentiality
All information will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a) and other applicable rules for safeguarding personally identifiable information. The form includes a Privacy Act Statement that informs respondents of the purpose for the collection; relevant statutory authorities; that completion is voluntary but that, if information is not provided, the United States government will be constrained in efforts to provide appropriate assistance; and that information may be shared with other U.S. and foreign governmental authorities, with transportation carriers, and others. Respondents are informed that submission of their request indicates their consent to the Department sharing information for such purposes.
Are any questions of a sensitive nature asked?
No questions of a sensitive nature are asked.
Describe the hour time burden and the hour cost burden on the respondent needed to complete this collection
The Department anticipates that as many 120,000 U.S. citizens and LPRs and /or their U.S. based family members could utilize the form annually. This estimate is based on the number of U.S. citizens, on average, providing information to the Department of State to receive information about safety and security conditions. However, the number of U.S. citizens and LPRs affected by crises worldwide varies widely from year to year, and completion of the form is optional. The total number of submissions is also heavily dependent on actual developments in a country experiencing a crisis. In addition, not all crisis situations may result in use of this public-facing form.
The form takes approximately 5 minutes to
complete, resulting in an estimated time burden of 10,000 hours
(120,000 x 5 minutes) and an estimated annual cost burden of
$243,600. The estimated cost to
respondents is based on the civilian hourly wage from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics website multiplied by the annual time burden.
The wage rate is estimated to be $24.36. The Department used
the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation released by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics in 2020.1i
Describe the monetary burden to respondents (out of pocket costs) needed to complete this collection.
There are no out-of-pocket costs to the respondents.
Describe the cost incurred by the Federal Government to complete this collection.
There will be no new cost to the federal government to set up this collection. The collection instrument is made available through an existing Department platform. The responses will be reviewed by Department employees in the normal course of their duties, including on dedicated task forces pertaining to the situation in the country experiencing a crisis.
Explain any changes/adjustments to this collection since the previous submission
This is a new information collection.
Specify if the data gathered by this collection will be published.
The information collected pursuant to this collection will not be published.
If applicable, explain the reason(s) for seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date. Otherwise, write “The Department will display the OMB expiration date.”
The Department will display the OMB expiration date.
Explain any exceptions to the OMB certification statement below. If there are no exceptions, write “The Department is not seeking exceptions to the certification statement”.
The Department is not seeking exceptions to the certification statement.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Canfield, Danielle P |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2023-07-31 |